Gender gap hurts GOP but Kavanaugh helps — McConnell to AP

"And with that, I must state that you, sir, under historic scrutiny were proven innocent".

She said that the disruptions during the hearing and Supreme Court protests were "not what we want for our country". There are 100 Senators, two from each state, and Republicans now hold a razor thin majority with 51 seats.

Initially Democrats had been favored to take control of the House of Representatives and - in early September - were seen as having a decent chance of taking the Senate as well.

"It's a great frustration", he said. Instead, the former D.C. Circuit judge missed the first week of arguments as the Senate considered an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a woman in high school. He denied all the allegations. Now, if somebody else is the chairman of the committee, they'll have to decide for themselves.

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) said its National Sexual Assault Hotline had a 338 percent increase in traffic between Thursday, September 27 - the day Ford testified regarding her allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh - and the following Sunday.

The crowd - filled with Iowans and Nebraskans, as Council Bluffs, Iowa, sits across the Mississippi River from Omaha, Nebraska - started a vigorous "Lock her up!" chant. Feinstein has denied that she or her staff released the private letter.

Kavanaugh is expected to push the court further to the right as he is replacing Kennedy, a conservative who sometimes voted with the liberal justices on key social issues such as abortion and gay rights.

US President Donald Trump returns from Florida to the South Lawn of the White House in Washington October 8, 2018.

"I think it'll help the president get re-elected", he said. "This business of presidential harassment may or may not be quite the victor they think it is".

His remarks on Murkowski were part of a wide-ranging interview in which McConnell acknowledged that the extended fight over confirming Kavanaugh has widened an existing gender gap in which Republicans trail Democrats in support among women.

Trump showed he still considers the nomination row a political battle.

But it was equally as noteworthy because one of the new law clerks was an African-American. Republicans Lindsey Graham of SC and John Cornyn of Texas have been among those mentioned. In April, the committee voted to approve bipartisan legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired in the midst of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. "I don't know a thing", he said.

"It's not my job to do a routine sort of daily critique of the president's observations", he said. "I thought it was a disgrace". The GOP-led House impeached Clinton but the Senate acquitted him.

On the campaign trail Trump insisted Mexico would pay for the wall. "We stood up to the mob", he said.

He said his approval rating has nearly doubled since the Kavanaugh confirmation.